Erasure FAQ

The Vince Clarke story

Updated 15 May 2004

Vince’s full name is Vincent John Clarke. He was born on July 3, 1960. His music career started out (much later) in a three-piece synth band called Composition Of Sound, later to evolve into the rather more successful Depeche Mode. (The name came from a French fashion magazine and can loosely be translated as “fashion despatch”.) He left the group in 1981 after the release of their debut album Speak And Spell. Every DM song up till then had been written by him except Big Muff and Tora Tora Tora (both written by Martin Gore, who took over writing duties when Vince left). Vince and Martin went to the same school, and Vince attended Martin’s wedding in August 1994. Alison Moyet (from Yazoo) was there too.

Why did Vince leave Depeche Mode? Probably simply because he didn’t like the group’s musical direction. The rest of the band were understandably unhappy with his decision, but they seem to have gotten over it now; there are reports of Vince hanging out with DM occasionally.

After leaving DM, Vince got together with singer/songwriter Alison Moyet (nicknamed “Alf”). Alison named the group Yazoo after a small American blues record label. In the US, Yazoo called themselves Yaz to avoid confusion (and possibly for legal reasons). Yazoo released two albums. Alf went on to a successful solo career, and Vince formed the Assembly.

The Assembly was Eric Radcliffe and Vince; they intended to recruit different vocalists to suit each song. The Assembly only released one recording: the single Never Never with vocals by Feargal Sharkey was released in 1983. In 1985, Vince Clarke and Paul Quinn released a single, One Day. Later that year, Erasure was born.

Vince lived in Amsterdam for a few years around 1990, but moved back to England in 1994. He likes Sci-Fi movies. He is devoted to analogue electronic instruments and music. He is not gay.